In hoping to maintain superhero status for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ fan base in 2026, Kian Schaffer-Baker turns – in part – to a formidable comic book villain.
“I love this one quote from Batman. Bane says it. He says ‘Victory has defeated you,’” the sixth-year Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver said in a post-practice interview during the team’s training camp at Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium.
“It’s very easy to be at the top of the throne, have everything going your way and get complacent. But we just carry that mentality that we’re at the bottom of the pit. We still gotta climb out of this thing. We gotta keep digging, keep fighting.”
Schaffer-Baker ended his 2025 season by catching three passes for 27 yards in the Riders’ 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes.
The result marked his first Canadian Football League championship and also capped a campaign in which he was limited to five regular season games due to injury.
In both circumstances, Schaffer-Baker sees motivation to view 2026 as a fresh start.
“How can we improve on what we did last year?” he asked. “If you’re talking about the things you did yesterday, you haven’t done enough today.”
Schaffer-Baker of course has done plenty in his CFL career to date. He finished his rookie season in 2021 with 47 catches for 563 yards and two touchdowns, then was named the Riders’ nominee for the league’s most outstanding Canadian award after his second year – one in which scored a career-high five touchdowns including one that took him 85 yards to the end zone.
Post-Grey Cup he was rewarded by the team with a new two-year contract and, health permitting, figures to line up this season as part of a receiving corps that could feature up to four Canadian starters (Samuel Emilus a lock, with Dhel Duncan-Busby and Daniel Wiebe pushing for spots as well).
“We’re the revamped Canadian Air Force. We’re the Canadian Flight Gang I feel like. A whole new coined term for us,” said Schaffer-Baker. “We got so much depth whether it’s Canadian, American, whoever jumps up into the spot, we know what our expectations are, we know what we gotta do each and every single day and we all help each other get better, that’s the biggest thing.
“Something I tell the younger guys is just be a sponge out here, and I’m still a sponge going into my sixth season. I’m still learning stuff from younger guys, older guys, guys who played in the NFL, guys that come from other leagues, there’s always something to be learning.”
One of those younger guys is Wiebe, an eighth-round draft pick of Saskatchewan’s in 2025 who was named the Canada West conference’s football player of the year after his final season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
Despite his relatively small stature for the position (5-foot-9, 190 pounds), Wiebe is a player Schaffer-Baker sees as a potentially-significant contributor for the Roughriders in the near future.
Wiebe suited up as a starting wide receiver for Monday’s preseason kickoff against the Calgary Stampeders while Schaffer-Baker was among the many veterans who did not dress for the game.
“He surprises me every single day and the biggest one I think is just his work ethic and his tenacity that he carries every single day,” said Schaffer-Baker. “He might not be the biggest guy out there as we can see but he plays like he’s 6-foot-5, 245 pounds.”
